HI 440 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Environmental History, Ottoman Empire, The Columbian Exchange
Environmental History is both “material” and “cognitive:”
● Material refers to actual physical changes in the land
● Cognitive refers to how individuals think of nature and their relationship to the rest of the
world and how those ideas led to the environmental change
● These both influence each other
Why does environmental history matter?
● All human experience takes place and space
● History is about context, and the greatest is the world we live in
● The natural world is ignored at our peril
● It helps us face “the task of living in nature while thinking ourselves outside of it”
Now let’s go back…
● As the natural world splits apart, the distance between those spaces become barriers to
human movement and, at the same time, enable human movement to travel across sea
● The first great story of environmental story is through migration and trade that
reconnects the world to each other
Neo-Europes
● Human populations took advantage of the new landscapes and developed new economies
that made sense in the places they lived
● Migration changed where people lived (Asia)
○ In China, the Han Chinese expanded into Southern China in the 7th century and
concentrated forms of agriculture, such as rice.
○ China was the center of life in Asia for a very long time; especially under the
Mongols in the 13th century
○ The Ottoman empire spread their ideas to Africa during this time
● People sought to find governmental systems to govern agriculture and trade, and the
same story is true in the Americas
● Migration changes where people lived (Americas)
○ The expansion of the Inca Empire forced migration and they developed a trade
system centrally organized amongst the members of their society (NOTE: this is
opposite to Asia, they traded with people outside their territories)
○ In central (Mesoamerica, five city states fought for power and the Aztecs took
control in the 13th century, establishing Tenochtitlan
■ Dense city
■ Had waterways
■ Sanitation
○ Mississippian cultures, which were Indian city states, occupied North America.
European Discovery of the Americas
● Their coming to the Americas initiated trade between the Indians and Europeans
● The language of trade was understood, while actual language was not, and they gave gifts
to each other. However, there were practical issues:
○ Diseases were spread
○ Indians could not necessarily eat and drink all the gifts brought (ex: milk)
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Document Summary
Material refers to actual physical changes in the land. Cognitive refers to how individuals think of nature and their relationship to the rest of the world and how those ideas led to the environmental change. All human experience takes place and space. History is about context, and the greatest is the world we live in. The natural world is ignored at our peril. It helps us face the task of living in nature while thinking ourselves outside of it . As the natural world splits apart, the distance between those spaces become barriers to human movement and, at the same time, enable human movement to travel across sea. The first great story of environmental story is through migration and trade that reconnects the world to each other. Human populations took advantage of the new landscapes and developed new economies that made sense in the places they lived.
